With Shang Chao gone and Episode 7 likely to be the last time we see Xia Qing, I, a Yang Cheng x Xia Qing x Shang Chao poly shipper, wanted to make a brief list of why I ship those two specifically.
I know YC x XQ and YC x SC get more focus, both in the show and in the fandom, and I know why. Xia Qing is his canonical love interest and Shang Chao is his friend who's death is likely the trigger that leads him down a darker path, but I feel even those who ship them in a poly sense ignore Shang Chao and Xia Qing's relationship. There's less to go off of, obviously, but I still think these two work well together.
Xia Qing is a realist while Shang Chao is an idealist. They both have the same goal of helping Yang Cheng, and work together to do so, their mindsets and general attitude while doing so is pretty different. Xia Qing is the emotional support who sees things like they are and says it like it is, while Shang Chao is the brains with connections, and as a result tends to be a bit more impulsive.
I love that one scene where Shang Chao is driving with one hand and a walkie-talkie in the other with a smug face, while Xia Qing is gripping her seatbelt with a wide-eyed expression. You can just tell she's wondering how he managed to talk her into this. While I wouldn't exactly call this a conflict, it would have been interesting to see these two personalities clash had we had more episodes and had Shang Chao lived.
At the same time, they're not all opposites. Despite Xia Qing seemingly being middle class and Shang Chao being rich, the both of them are extremely hard workers. Shang Chao will say all he likes that all he does is ask his rich dad for help and I will not deny he has connections and a better starting point from being born in a rich family compared to the other two who have to work from zero, but he does put hard work into the things he knows only he can accomplish. He was so excited about turning the lame warehouse he himself rented into something better over time. Xia Qing meanwhile recognizes Shang Chao's efforts.
SHANG CHAO LITERALLY ASKED HER OUT. I know a lot of people think he was referring to the warehouse surprise which was most definitely for both of them but mainly Yang Cheng, but I actually don't. Why on Earth would she word it like that? "Shang Chao asked me out". Rewatching the scene also implies that, Yang Cheng was also told about a 'surprise' by Shang Chao, even if he didn't know what it was, meaning the warehouse and confession were both different things. Why would she say she didn't accept then immediately bring him along to see the surprise? Yang Cheng and Xia Qing may be the canon pairing with mutual feelings, but Shang Chao clearly liked her just like Yang Cheng did.
While Xia Qing is frustrated that Yang Cheng isn't biting the bullet and asking her out or accepting when she does herself, Shang Chao is straightforward and does what Yang Cheng is hesitant to. While she doesn't accept, at least not right away ("Did you accept?" "Not Yet"), considering I'm 95% convinced Shang Chao was trying to get with both of them, I wouldn't have at all have been surprised if, had things worked out differently, these two would have been the first to get together.
Though it could just be Shang Chao being a nice classmate who knows she likes Lucky Cyan, implied the two were friends before the E-Soul Chapter with Shang Chao inviting her to a concert (also giving her another ticket which she uses to invite Yang Cheng, but like I said, I'm pretty sure he was gunning for both of them) and going to talk to her after the E-soul competition.
They would look good together. Shallow reason, I know, but look at them and tell me I'm wrong.
I hope the Episode 7 shows a bit more of Xia Qing and Shang Chao's relationship, even if it's just going to be in flashbacks or Xia Qing talking about him at his funeral. I love these three so much and they have been the only thing on my mind since Episode 6 dropped and I feel it would be waste to only focus on two corners of this triangle.
